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GP News - 5 January 2018

Primary Care Winter Pressures Scheme

To support our member practices over the current winter period, and following positive feedback last year, we are pleased to advise that the Primary Care Commissioning Committee have again agreed additional investment to support practices.

The ‘Primary Care Winter Pressures Scheme’ is intended to support practices to provide additional appointments between January 2018 and March 2018. (Note: this scheme is a local offer devised and supported by the CCG, and is separate from the NHSE funding that came out in December).

For the 2018 Primary Care Winter Pressures Scheme, practices will be required to provide an increase in bookable appointments on the day, with no reduction in other appointments or activity. Additional appointments can be during core hours, through longer opening hours and/or weekend/bank holiday appointments.

Additional appointments can be with any healthcare professional i.e. GP, practice nurse, advanced nurse practitioner, HCA, clinical pharmacist. It can also include a combination of face to face, telephone consultations/ online consultations (Skype) where available and home visits. This scheme excludes any provision offered via the Extended Hours DES. Practices cannot be paid twice for the same work.

The agreement will be for a period of nine weeks, commencing on Monday 29 January 2018 and ending Saturday 31 March 2018.

Individual emails are going out to practices and we are asking practices who would like to take part to read the documentation on the email to the practice, complete the application form and submit to CAPCCG.enhancedservices@nhs.netby close of play Friday 19 January 2018.

We would also like to thank practices who took part in the Improved Access scheme over the Christmas and New Year period which saw 1,000 additional appointments offered to patients over the festive period.

If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact a member of the primary care team via the following email address CAPCCG.enhancedservices@nhs.net.

CCG member practices’ meeting

The next CCG member practices’ meeting is on 22 February at Wood Green. Please could you RSVP to capccg.gateway@nhs.net if you are planning to attend. The agenda will be available shortly.

Controlled Drugs questionnaire - for voluntary action

Via our controlled drug network, the CCG has received a questionnaire from the Home Office. The questionnaire can be downloaded from this page.

If your practice holds controlled drugs – in a dispensary or for GP emergency use – I would be grateful if you could please take the time to read the Home Office statement (below) and complete their questionnaire. This is voluntary.

“The Home Office is reviewing the Misuse of Drugs (Safe Custody) Regulations 1973 (‘the 1973 Regulations’). The Department of Health (NI) are also reviewing the Misuse of Drugs (Safe Custody) Regulations 1973 as part of this process.

This is separate to the provisions set out in the Misuse of Drugs Regulations in place in Great Britain and in Northern Ireland. As such, this review will not consider the current provisions regarding the authority to import, export, produce, possess, supply, administer, prescribe or the requirements for licensing, record-keeping, labelling, destruction and disposal. The purpose of this review is solely to assess the Regulations which impact on the way controlled drugs are stored.

A series of questions will assist policy makers in establishing what amendments need to be made. In addition, this will assist in the data gathering which will form the basis for the impact assessment regarding the new Safe Custody Regulations.

A public consultation will be made available in 2018 which will provide an additional opportunity to comment on the final recommendations.

Partner News

'Listen' support groups: Cambridge and Huntingdon

‘Listen’ are parent-led support groups for those who have children with any kind of social or emotional mental health problems. It is a safe place to talk to others in the same situation and be heard. The Huntingdon group started in September 2017 and a new Cambridge group will begin in February. Both are supported by Pinpoint.

Arts on Prescription is run by Arts and Minds and offers free art workshops for anyone experiencing depression, stress, or anxiety. Information can be downloaded from this page.

Active+ Programme - Huntingdonshire

Active+ is a new model for low-cost, community-based, and life-long rehabilitation programmes for people diagnosed with long-term conditions such as cancer, cardiovascular and respiratory disease. It uses exercise classes delivered by qualified but non-medical staff, supported with self-care technology, education, and training in a peer-to-peer supported programme developed in Huntingdonshire.

Active+ came about as the result of a collaboration between Huntingdonshire District Council, Huntingdonshire Community Cancer Network, enabled with Aseptika’s innovative Activ8rlives health platform, and supported by the Eastern Academic Health Science Network.

Cambridgeshire and Peterborough CCG is coordinating with Macmillan South and East Learning and Development and continuing to run fully funded GP Cancer Masterclass education events with speakers from local Trusts.

Please could you publicise these events (details in the attached poster) to all your GPs and as widely as possible.

If there any reasons why GPs in your practice may have been unable to attend or if you have any feedback on how to improve the masterclasses run in 2017, please could you let us know via Agi on agnieszka.ferguson@nhs.net so that we can take this into account when planning the next series of Masterclasses from April 2018. Thank you.

Safeguarding conference: 6 March 2018

Details of a safeguarding conference being run on 6 March 2018 can be downloaded from this page. To book a place please email capccg.safeguardingchildren@nhs.net by 23 February 2018.

Adult Safeguarding training: free to attend

This free training for GPs, Practice Nurses, and Practice Managers is available following a successful joint funding bid to NHS England by the Safeguarding Adults Teams of Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, and Norfolk CCGs.

The General Practice Forward View committed to over £100m of investment to support an extra 1,500 clinical pharmacists to work in general practice by 2020/21. This is in addition to over 490 clinical pharmacists already working across approximately 650 GP practices as part of a pilot, launched in July 2015.

We're inviting GP practices and other providers of general practice medical services to apply for funding on an ongoing basis to help recruit, train and develop more clinical pharmacists through the secure clinical pharmacist application portal.The deadline for wave 4 application submissions is 19 January 2018.

NHS England invites Practice Nurses to attend a free two-day workshop on 22 and 23 January 2018. Information can be found under 'Related Downloads'.

The inclusion of external courses and events within GP News does not imply endorsement by NHS Cambridgeshire and Peterborough CCG or any association with their operators.

Disclaimer: Whilst every effort has been made to check external links are from a reliable source please be mindful when requested to input personal information into any third party links or via an unsecured link.